Season 4 Recap Review

Season 4 (2004-2005)

Recap Review

Season Cast:

Tom Welling (Clark Kent)

Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang)

Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor)

Allison Mack (Chloe Sullivan)

Jensen Ackles (Jason Teague)

John Glover (Lionel Luthor)

Anentte O'Toole (Martha Kent)

John Schnieder (Jonathan Kent)

Recurring Guest Star:

Erica Durance (Lois Lane)

After such a glorious season of the show, Smallville seemed to be flying high not only in popularity by the fall '04 but literally as Clark Kent for the first time or should I say his brainwashed alter-ego Kal-El took fight into the skies. "Crusade" is the exact premiere you'd expect for a new season, especially following a 3rd year of a series that seemed to peak in quality with such dark storytelling, compelling character arcs and explosive twists that we couldn't help but cling on to! Like I said, Crusade does this and so much more, not only showing our young Superman to be flying across the Earth but by introducing both a new exciting story arc with three mythical stones and a new character in the tremendously talented newcomer Erica Durance as Lois Lane! Yeah, it's hard to believe the writers would already introduce Superman's leading lady already when he hasn't even graduated high school yet but by goodness, this was one of this season's shinning highlights and best decision Al and Miles made thus far.  After such a grim and gritty year from the show, the showrunners and their writers decided to create a much brighter, lighthearted season and Lois is the anchor that cares the first few episodes with so much fun and flare we haven't seen from the series since the first season.  It's not only refreshing but some of the most hilarious sequences of the show come from episodes like Gone, Devoted and Facade even if the quality of each episode varied greatly! Lois is the perfect comedic, take charge foil to Clark's sometimes stoic yet stubborn personality.  Constantly, bickering, Lois crossing her boundaries, Clark always ready to hit her with a punch line before Lois threatens or bosses him around.  It's what you'd come to love about these two characters from the comics throughout the films and 90s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. It felt for the first couple of episodes that the show had a drive and purpose, especially when it came to Clark himself.

 

Let's be honest, Season 3 was Lex's year, driving the dark, surreal narrative of that season despite Clark being the lead and dealing with the fallout of running away to Metropolis over the summer.  Mostly, Clark was dealing with the already dead in the water, tiresome love story of him and Lana as he broke up with her to protect her (Serious GROAN!).  Then we got the back and forth of her coming to Clark to vent about his secrets and lies while Clark would continue to push her away when she is perfectly willing to be with him.  Oh the teen drama from hell writing of those two! -_-  But here, Clark not only gets a great storyline for the first half of the season but terrific amount of character developing as well as building.  Clark's love for football was only teased in Season 1's Hothead but here the writers further explore and reach the full potential of that storyline by having Clark wanting to leave his mark before graduating high school but his father, of course, fearing the immense danger he will be to his teammates because of his powers.  It showed so much ambition, heart, not to mention fun from Clark.  It was amazing to actually see him smiling again and not focused on Lana....for a while anyway and really being challenged on a more human level than his alien heritage with Jor-El and Krypton.  Annette O' Toole and especially John Schneider are simply sublime, especially the scenes with Jonathan challenges Clark's decisions to continuing playing despite his wishes.  The most remarkable scene between both men comes alive in ways I never imagined in the lukewarm, ill conceived Jinx that despite it horrendously laughable main storyline, the dilemma with Clark playing after accidentally hurting a teammate sees the moment where Clark teaches his father about his inner struggle and how he will never understand being so restricted yet wanting to standout like everyone else.  It's a tear jerker of a moment and makes you so proud of Clark.

They also explore the downside of Clark being the newest head quarterback like in episodes Facade and Devoted with him having to prove himself to his team while also saving the day as usual.  Then we get Recruit, the final episode in Clark's journey that makes him realize the pressures of being college pro would allow him to have to constantly lie about himself and be unfair to those on the team.  It's sad to see Clark give up something he is so passionate about and move on but it was so wonderful to see this personal arc for the character actually having to do with high school and all the pressures of choosing your future after high school.  As for Clark's friends, after Chloe's suspenseful death at the hands of that safe-house explosion, he and Lois realize she is alive by going on a mission to find out what really happened that day.  After discovering Chloe and saving her, Chloe continues the refreshing character growth of last season by becoming more upbeat and laidback with the lighter tone of the season.  I mean all I can say is Devoted is the funniest thing they did with Chloe thus far on this show, jealous of Lois by attacking her with wrench and forcing herself on Clark by wearing his football jersey.  Yeah, I feel like this was the last season of Chloe's ill fated infatuation with Clark cause...damn girl as we see her realizing those feelings are still there but it's time to move on, especially when she learns of Clark's secret...well his powers anyway, thanks to Alicia showing her for herself.  It's major turning point for Chloe, fully transitioning self absorb time bomb masquerading as Clark's best friend to his faithful, selfless secret keeper that Clark doesn't even know about.  It not only was the best move for the character, but it's honestly hilarious watching Chloe interact with Clark as she gives him subtle hints to knowing the truth but Clark playing dumb to protect his secret as usual...lol. Blank was also an absolute joy for developing her character as she chooses to be Clark's guide and guardian when he loses his memories. We finally see just how committed Chloe is to being there for Clark, not to mention help him cover his mishaps with his powers so people don't know the truth.  Not to mention, the lengths she goes to protect Clark's secret from Lex in the finale is just plain awesome and victorious.  I can't wait to see her character progress even further next season.

Going to the true story arc of the season, the stone search plot that ran throughout the season may have started up, up away but soon quickly crashed and dug itself into the ground! It's unfortunate Lex, Lionel and especially Lana are dragged into this arc as well as her new boyfriend and future Supernatural star Jensen Ackles.  It's a shame that Lana and Jason's relationship was yet another burnout storyline for her as seeing them in Paris in the premiere, not to mention the first couple episodes showed a man that more whimsical and open with her to have fun than her previous relationships. But then....Lana gets that damn tattoo on her back and this storyline officially dies slow, meaningless death by the halfway point.  The infamous witch story of the stone search is one of the worst ever written for the show and the less said about episodes like the cheesy, mind numbing humiliation of Spell and Kristin's....unfortunate performances as Isobel Thoreaux, the better! Sorry, NOT SORRY! -_-  The Teagues were so horribly conceived as well with Jason starting and ending his tenure on the show as two completely different characters.  Literally! He goes from Lana's handsome, fun loving boyfriend with big heart and full of hilarious personality that it even brought out the more lively fun out of Kreuk's Lana.....to this menacing, double crossing murder who is his mother's henchman, wanting to desperately prove his love to her and go on this stone search with her.  Then there's Jason's mother herself, the elusive Genevieve Teague played with enough devilish flare by Jane Seymour but my goodness, her motivations are puzzling.  So she set up Jason and Lana meeting so Jason could get close to her so they could find the stones and potentially hurt her if they have to since Isobel swore to kill their family line through her??!! I just.....and Jason goes from hating and being very apprehensive of his mother to this unwavering loyalty to her that in the end makes him not really care for Lana that much.  He goes from being on Lana's side, to Lex's side, back to Lana, then to his mother, even trusting Lionel at one point....  All those writing issues this season really hurt this season with character personalities, motivations and payoffs making absolutely no sense.  A shame Margott Kidder apparently couldn't deal with the creators and their vision for Bridgette Crosby and the bigger picture down the line like Reeves' Dr. Swan but the way they try to fix things when clearly the storylines and characters are coming off forced and contrived is not good at all! O_o

Lex's involvement with the stone search seemed to be about his personal journey to the dark side but it just doesn't make sense his handling of it as well as his motivations.  He continues the search for the stones because they connect to the symbols in the caves as well as the ones that appeared on the Kent farm but the way he handles it is just uncertain.  Why pay off the Chinese guards in Sacred??? Having Jason work for him to get closer to the stones yet Lex reveals to Lana that Jason maybe working with his mother instead of staying away from her??? By season's end, he has literally gone insane wanting the stones and yes, ultimate knowledge is great but Lex's sudden embracing of his darker side comes out of no where....or does it??? ;)  Lionel gets a redemption story this season after wrecking havoc in Clark's body in Transference as his liver is healed and is shockingly released from prison thanks to an anonymous source that appears to be more powerful than him.  It appears to be Genevieve Teague who was behind the miraculous over turning  of his conviction but after being pushed back to the edge by Lex's evil half in Onyx, Lionel returns to his smug, sinister self to threaten the likes of Genevieve who will do anything to get their hands on the stones, including killing Lex. That wine poisoning scene almost makes up for Lionel being to terribly utilized this season by taking a back seat and being the mastermind of getting the pieces together for everyone looking for the stones.  In the end, him getting his hand on one of the stones has put him in some kind of coma and honestly, it will lead to an even greater role for Lionel moving forward.

As for the Kents, they are splendid and do their usual supportive selves by helping Clark throughout his last year of high school as well as pushing him to go to college outside of Smallville.  In the end, Clark chooses to stay near Smallville against his father's wishes but both men come to terms with Clark willing to get a higher education while continuing to help his family on the farm.  Their fates are left in limbo when the second meteor shower hits and the Kent house is hit by a meteor. Oh well, Season 4 reminded me of Buffy's own Season 4: a season where the overarching story was the series' weakest yet some of the individual, standalone episodes out of the plot are some of the best.  Devoted is a hilarious romp of a teen parody of high school steretypes, Run features the first of truly epic DC hero guest appearances in Bart Allen, Transference proves Tom Welling is a star in the making with a career highlighting performance within an amazing script, Onyx is excellent deconstruction of the villain is destined to be and Spirit is one of the most outrageously funny body snatching stories that sees the cast having some fun with performing as spirit hopping Dawn Styles.  Even an episode like Krypto has some merit that it pull off the introduction of the comic superdog in a manner that worked! But for all its faults with the pathetic witch arc and stone search handling throughout the season, it certainly started with such powerhouse of confidence with Crusade and ended with possibly the best episode of the show yet in the series finale feeling Commencement, that manages to pull not only this stone storyline together at the very end but wrap up 4 years of storylines as well as leaving so much to be anticipated more than ever for the 5th season! Not to mention, Lois was an exceptional replacement of Pete, even if she was severely underused in only a handful of contracted episodes for her first go round on the show. Only left to see if, Bye Smallville High and the Crows! :(

Entering its final high school season with a pulse pounding, painfully entertaining season opener, Smallville's fourth season is ultimately unsuccessful with its usual strong, well written story arcs with a polarizing, serialized plot involving evil witches and a stone odyssey storyline having its rare moments of relevance in episodes like "Sacred". It's a messy and incoherent year for the show that it seems by season's end that the writers were more interested in having fun with the stronger aspects of the season (Lois Lane, High School adventures, clever comedy, etc.) and saving the wrap up of such a poorly plotted narrative for an apocalyptic finish in "Commencement" that feels like both a journey's end smash and a beginning of a hopeful next chapter of this legendary superhero origin tale. :)

Final Season Verdict: C-